Compassion
As I write these words, more than 100,000 people are feared dead in Myanmar after the devastating cyclone, Nargis, hit its shores earlier this week। International aid is trickling in to the country, but not as one would have expected for a disaster of this scale, which is considered only second to the Asian Tsunami, in this region. CNN and other leading international news agencies are running this as their lead story, ever since the scale of this disaster was known. Surely such humanitarian catastrophes deserve the attention without any prejudice.
Now, take a deep breath and switch on your favorite news channel in India। Times Now, a leading news channel, is running a story on how the Mumbai Indians team, beat their rivals Rajasthan Royals in a local Cricket tournament that has gripped the nation, thanks to the media hype. Zap to NDTV 24x7 and you get to see how the elections in Karnataka is shaping up. As for Pranoy Roy’s NDTV the state of Karnataka starts and ends at the boundaries of Bangalore and with nothing in between. Apparently that is what the state administration too feels. Another click on the remote takes me to CNNIBN, another popular English news channel. They have something new to tell us, the spat between the Governor and the government in West Bengal over the recent power cuts. Headlines Today of the India Today group and a spate of Hindi news channels, are running stories of how the professional wrestler, The Great Kali, has made his move into bollywood. And, if it is not Kali, it is the cricket match on these channels.
Going through the websites of these news channels is even more disgusting। I went ndtv।com, timesnow।tv & ibnlive.com and none of these websites have a single word on the disaster that has struck our neighboring country, just a few hundred miles from our Capital. I haven’t seen any news item that showed our prime minister of president showing any concern about the suffering in our own neighborhood. Perhaps, they are too busy trying to stabilize their political career than worry about people. (I would like to clarify that India has sent supplies to Myanmar and was among the first countries to do so).
I would want to ask all these news people just one question. Does the word compassion mean anything to you?
Now, take a deep breath and switch on your favorite news channel in India। Times Now, a leading news channel, is running a story on how the Mumbai Indians team, beat their rivals Rajasthan Royals in a local Cricket tournament that has gripped the nation, thanks to the media hype. Zap to NDTV 24x7 and you get to see how the elections in Karnataka is shaping up. As for Pranoy Roy’s NDTV the state of Karnataka starts and ends at the boundaries of Bangalore and with nothing in between. Apparently that is what the state administration too feels. Another click on the remote takes me to CNNIBN, another popular English news channel. They have something new to tell us, the spat between the Governor and the government in West Bengal over the recent power cuts. Headlines Today of the India Today group and a spate of Hindi news channels, are running stories of how the professional wrestler, The Great Kali, has made his move into bollywood. And, if it is not Kali, it is the cricket match on these channels.
Going through the websites of these news channels is even more disgusting। I went ndtv।com, timesnow।tv & ibnlive.com and none of these websites have a single word on the disaster that has struck our neighboring country, just a few hundred miles from our Capital. I haven’t seen any news item that showed our prime minister of president showing any concern about the suffering in our own neighborhood. Perhaps, they are too busy trying to stabilize their political career than worry about people. (I would like to clarify that India has sent supplies to Myanmar and was among the first countries to do so).
I would want to ask all these news people just one question. Does the word compassion mean anything to you?
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